1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a home network system, and more particularly, to a control system and method for a home network system in a multi-user environment, where the home network system includes a plurality of registered slave devices and a master device coupled to the slave devices for controlling their operational functions.
2. Discussion of the Related Art
In general, a home network system is a home automation control system, in which a master home appliance (or a master home server) is able to control operations of one or more slave home appliances. More specifically, a user of the master home appliance is able to control the operations of various slave home appliances (or slave devices), such as a refrigerator, an air conditioner, a washer, a gas range, a boiler, and so on.
Most of the microcomputers used in home application have serial communication functions. Therefore, a wide range of slave home appliances having inter-communicative functions is being extensively developed. The size of the resources used in such communications varies widely depending upon the characteristics of the slave home appliances.
In order to operate basic functions in a network system having a personal computer (PC) and corresponding peripheral devices, or in a digital television and other multi-media devices, such as a personal computer, internet refrigerators, and so on, a hardware having high function configurations should be adopted. Accordingly, a large amount of data and a communication standard suitable for high speed communications, namely, a home network control protocol (HNCP), which determines a signal flow sequence and a method of connecting signal lines to enable the intercommunication among the devices within the network, is required.
In the home network system associated with the HNCP, an electrical appliance corresponding to the master device is electrically connected to a plurality of slave home appliances via a power line, thereby enabling the master device to control the operations of the plurality of slave devices.
When a user executes a user interface function, such as an on-screen display (OSD) menu for controlling the home network directly from the master device, and selects slave home appliances to be controlled and the corresponding control commands from the OSD menu, the microcomputer within the master device transmits the control commands selected by the user to the corresponding slave home appliance.
However, the related art home network system is disadvantageous in that when the user returns home and wishes to control his or her home network, the user is required to personally and directly input the desired control command into the master device for each of the slave home appliances the user wishes to control, which is an inconvenient process for the user, thereby lowering the efficiency of the home network system.